Superintendent's Message

Welcome Back for the 2014-15 School Year

Paul Gothold

Lynwood Unified School DistrictAugust 2014

With the commencement of the 2014-15 school year, I would like to extend a heartfelt welcome back to our Lynwood Unified family. I am thrilled to greet our returning students, parents and staff, and welcome all of the new faces that have joined our educational system.

The first day of school marks the beginning of a journey in which students enter the next grade level at their schools and are challenged to learn new things; we have been working to ensure that every student has the opportunity to do so. I’m thankful for all of our dedicated teachers and staff, who are committed to making this another productive school year, building on the successes and accomplishments made last year to improve student achievement and offer a rigorous instructional program preparing every student for college and career.

For instance, our Academic Performance Index (API) scores have made substantial increases and graduation rates have also been on the rise, with nearly 900 students graduating from our high schools in June.

With Lynwood Unified beginning the implementation of Common Core this year, it is the District’s promise to continue this positive progress and provide enhanced opportunities and high-quality educational programs to all Lynwood students. These educational standards are designed to build students’ problem-solving skills and provide them with a deeper understanding of English and math and how to apply concepts learned in the classroom to real-world situations. Our teachers and staff have been involved in several professional development trainings so that they can be confident about providing an updated curriculum that is consistent with Common Core, allowing our students to use their creativity and critical thinking skills.

Along with new educational standards, we are also enhancing our students’ learning environments. Students and staff at Washington and Lincoln elementary schools are ringing in the school year with new, permanent classrooms that are replacing dozens of portable classrooms. The entire community is invited to join us as we commemorate the completion of these Measure K projects with upcoming ribbon cutting ceremonies on the two campuses. The event at Lincoln will take place at 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 3, and the event at Washington will take place at 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10. You are welcome to help us celebrate this milestone by touring these new facilities.

Many of our buildings have been renovated over the last couple of years as we continue to move forward with construction under Measure K. I encourage you to frequently visit our website, or “like” us on Facebook to hear more about the work taking place under this facilities bond measure, which was approved by Lynwood voters in 2012.

Another big change that’s taking place this year is the implementation of the new Local Control Funding Formula, which enables us to allocate precious funding to programs and services that will best serve our students.

If we all work together, I am positive that we can continue to thrive and reach the mission and goals set by our Achieving Greatness Initiative. I encourage all of our parents and community to continue to be our partners as we continually refine our organization to ensure all students are prepared for college and career.